What’s holding digital back?

Internet advertising is experiencing its second boom, with projected growth rates reaching startling proportions. Simon Andrews, founding partner of Big Picture Advertising, explains the changes that need to take place at agency level to capitalise on this online potential…

I was fascinated by the MediaTel INSIGHT conference on the future of online the other week. There was a good panel, with people from AOL, MSN & ilevel as well as Ray Snoddy and “compere” Torin Douglas, and a packed audience. There was well informed debate about some of the issues affecting online and its growth, and a general satisfaction with progress – online growing at 70% a year and taking a bigger share than outdoor.

But I was left feeling a little underwhelmed. Are we happy to see digital taking its place as another media option? Or should we see the growth of digital as triggering a fundamental switch in how marketing is done?

It’s clear that money is in motion – Carat in the US predicts $40bn will switch out of TV in the next few years and investment bank Piper Jaffray forecasts that online in the US will be worth $50bn by 2010. But money always follows eyeballs and the eyeballs are already online.

My favourite quote from the conference was Andrew Walmsley (of ilevel) saying he’d read that a significant proportion of US broadband users now went online “for no particular reason,” suggesting the medium is now an entertainment option rather than just a task oriented option. So what is holding online spend back?

We’d argue that the rightful digital share is prevented by the ignorance and fear of traditional agencies – creative and media. We still see online being used as part of an ‘integrated’ campaign, with the online spend usually single figure % of the budget. And the integration is usually of the Louis Vuitton variety – something from the TV ad is used, so everything matches.

Why isn’t digital at the heart of these campaigns, rather than an afterthought?

Largely because traditional agencies are essentially factories producing 30 second commercials and £million TV buys, and when you’ve perfected making money from your factory you’re loath to start making something else, especially when that seems complicated and requires rather more work.

Sound harsh? Of course some agencies handle digital really well, but not many. Ask your favourite creative agency how they think Google should be used, what their views are on opt in and opt out data capture or what they think about the PVR effect on ad avoidance. I’m told one creative agency CEO, when asked about new media in general, said he “wishes it would just go away”.

Are media agencies any better? A friend of mine works for one of the portals and decided to spend a day with the sales force. After sitting listening to sales calls he was staggered at how poorly informed many of the buyers were – including those from the big well established media agencies. No-one was very interested in targeting or new creative opportunities – just what the cpm was. Given all the effort the bigger web businesses make to educate, and provide information on the medium as a whole as well as their own sites, this is unforgivable.

This ignorance and fear means clients are not getting the right advice. They’re being told that the old ways of doing things are still the right ways – with just a minor spend online being sufficient.

So it’s up to the rest of us – those who know what this medium can do, who understand just how it’s changing the lives of our clients’ customers and who are building businesses that have digital at its heart. It’s up to us to help clients understand how digital can drive their business and to place digital at the heart of their marketing strategy.

Then we’ll see digital take its rightful share of marketing spend.